The Politics of Islamic Finance

Abstract

The following text is taken from the publisher's website: "Can the contemporary Islamic finance movement be shown to meet the requirements of modern commerce? In the wake of the terrorist attacks on America the UN Security Council passed a resolution targeting transnational sources of terrorist funds. The United States and the International Monetary Fund are encouraging the governments of the Middle East to adopt policies of economic liberalism and a new type of capitalism, based on Islamic values and beliefs, is emerging. The aims of the book are: to explore the political implications of the slow but steady accumulation of Islamic capital to analyse the connections between Islamic finance and Islamic political movements in Middle Eastern and North African countries to show that the commonly-perceived connection between Islamic finance and money laundering and terrorism is by no means the complete picture. Readers will learn to appreciate the various political contexts in which Islamic finance operates in the Middle East and North Africa and will acquire some understanding of its political as well as economic constraints. Hopefully possible misunderstandings about Islamic banking and finance will be corrected. The book is divided into two parts - part one is thematic and lays the ground for the country-specific case studies in part two (covering the Sudan, Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt). The contributors include political scientists, economists and historians. Key Features: A major topical issue Written by the world's leading experts on Islamic Political Economy Explores the connections between Islamic finance and Islamic political movements Includes country-specific case studies Contents Table of Contents Introduction Clement Henry and Rodney Wilson Part I - Thematic Essays 1. Islamic Banks: The Rise of A New Power Alliance of Wealth and Shari'ah Scholarship, by Monzer Kahf 2. Global Politics, Islamic Finance and Islamist Politics Before and After September 11, 2001, by Ibrahim Warde 3. The Murabaha Syndrome in Islamic Finance: Laws, Institutions and Politics, by Tarik Yousef 4. Marketing Commodities Does Not Happen on Commodity Markets: The Egyptian Bursat al-'Uqud and Oil Futures Markets, by Ellis Goldberg 5. Financial Performances of Islamic versus Conventional Banks, by Clement Henry 6. Capital Flight through Islamic Managed Funds, by Rodney Wilson Part II - Case Studies 7. Interest Politics: Islamic Finance in the Sudan 1977-2001, by Endre Stiansen 8. The Kuwait Finance House and the Islamization of Public Life in Kuwait, by Kristin Smith 9. Jordan: A Case Study of the Relationship between Islamic Finance and Islamist Politics, by Mohammed Malley 10. The Political Economy of Islamic Finance in Turkey: The Role of Fethullah Gulen and Asya Finans, by Filiz Baskan 11. Aiyyu Bank Islami? The Marginalization of Tunisia's BEST Bank, by Robert Parks 12. The Rise and Decline of the Islamic Banking Model in Egypt, by Samir Soliman Conclusion"